Completely Hopeless
by OkayDokey33
Summary: A little late to the party, Bisca and Alzack are finally informed of Gray and Juvia's little incident at the Great Banquet and are a bit concerned, not by how much has changed, but by how LITTLE has changed. Worried about the potential future consequences of this development, they decide to get to the bottom of things before making their move to help their love-challenged friends.
1. The Plan

"What?!" a shocked Alzack and Bisca cried upon hearing the unfortunate revelation unceremoniously bestowed unto them by the queen of drinking herself, Cana Alberona. Luckily for them, despite how unintentionally loud the two had gotten, Fairy Tail was, practically by default, a loud and lively guild, which made the conversation they were having with the card carrying mage just one of many in a sea of loud conversations and crazy antics. Unless someone deliberately tried to listen in on their conversation, Cana's unexpectedly nonchalant verbal reveal and Alzack and Bisca's sudden cry of surprise would've almost been impossible to discern.

Cana decided to guzzle down the last of her drink before answering the married couple's question. After letting out a refreshing "Ah," she set down her fourth barrel of beer of the day onto her lap, laid her arms on the barrel, propped her chin on her arms, smirked at the gun-toting mages, and answered, "Yeah, Juvia confessed her love to Gray and Gray shot her down." She playfully punched Alzack on the shoulder and added, "Sorry I sunk your ship."

Alzack and Bisca quickly looked at each other in shock. They just couldn't believe what they were hearing. Alzack turned his attention back to Cana. "W-when did this happen?" he asked, obviously wanting all of the details.

"It was during the Great Banquet in Crocus," a voice answered behind them. Alzack and Bisca quickly turned around to find that the voice belonged to Mirajane Strauss, her usual sweet and innocent smile gracing her features as she casually carried a brown, circular serving tray under her arm, apparently coming back from delivering fellow guild member's order.

"What?!" Alzack and Bisca cried. "That long ago?!"

Mirajane nodded, that smile of hers showing no signs of leaving her face anytime soon. Despite that though, she was noticeably surprised by the Connells' reactions. "Yes. You two didn't know?" she asked.

Bisca shook her head. "N-no, we didn't!"

"Really?" Mirajane asked. "Strange, I thought everybody in the guild knew about that."

Alzack's jaw dropped the moment he heard what Mirajane had just said. "E-e-everybody?" he uncontrollably stuttered.

Mirajane nodded, a sympathetic smile replacing the previous one on her face. "Yes."

Upon being enlightened by this newfound information, Alzack released a comically horrified gasp, slowly dropped his shoulders, hung his head, turned around, took a few dispirited steps away from the group, stopped, slowly crouched down, wrapped his arms around his knees, and repeatedly muttered, "Everybody knew except for us," to himself over and over again while repeatedly drawing circles on the floor with his finger.

Bisca quickly rushed to her husband's side to console him as best she could. "Come on Al, don't be like that," she said, placing a hand on one of Alzack's shoulders and soothingly stroking it. "When you really think about it, it's our own fault to begin with." Bisca let out a small, guilty laugh. "We've been so busy taking care of Asuka that we haven't been taking enough time to properly keep tabs on everyone." She then gave his shoulder a comforting pat. "It's okay Al, it happens, and until Asuka's old enough to take care of herself, it's probably going keep happening whether we like it or not." She gently grabbed her husband's chin and forced him to look at her as she gave him a reassuring wink. "Cheer up! If that's the reason, then there's nothing to be ashamed of!"

Alzack took a moment to let his wife's words sink in, and once he did, his expression softened as he gave her a small, understandably sad, and disappointed smile. "Yeah," he said softly, giving her a little nod, "you're right. If we're going to be out of the loop, we might as well be doing something worthwhile." He gently took Bisca's hand off of his chin. "Sorry."

Bisca chuckled. "For what?" she asked.

Alzack, red-faced, looked away and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "You know, for getting all moody and stuff." He stopped scratching his head and looked at the ground, shamefaced. "As a husband and a father, I should be stronger than this."

"Oh Al," Bisca said, placing her hand into her husband's hair and ruffling it up a bit, "you may not be the strongest mage in this guild, but believe me, you're plenty strong!" She took a moment to stop messing with his hair to think it over. "Actually, when you think about it, I'm actually pretty lucky. Your mood swings are usually few and far between." She let out a proud and hearty laugh. "What can I say?" She gave him a playful wink. "I really know how to pick my targets."

Alzack chuckled and gave her a small smile as they both looked deep into each others' eyes. "Yeah."

"Aw," Mirajane said. "Look at you two, whispering sweet nothings to each other. And in the middle of the guild too!"

"GAH!" Bisca and Alzack cried, the two quickly standing straight up and blushing furiously. They had honestly forgotten the fact that Mirajane and, when Alzack peered from the corner of his eye, Cana were still there, watching the two of them as they had unintentionally transitioned from asking the two about Fairy Tail's resident ice and water mages to having a romantic moment together, and in public no less. They desperately hoped and prayed that no one other else had witnessed (or even glimpsed) their little spectacle.

Cana laughed. "Aw, come on! Keep going! Don't mind us! I kind of want to see how gun-slingers hit their marks!" She gave them both a playful smirk. "If you know what I mean!"

Alzack could only blush harder as he kept his eyes and head down, not even daring to look either Cana or Mirajane in the eye, while Bisca looked up and had her eyes glued onto the guild's ceiling, her blush easily giving Alzack's a run for its money. She desperately tried to find a way to change the subject, to divert the attention away from them. "S-so," she began, inwardly cursing herself for her uncontrollable stuttering, "y-you said that Gray rejected Juvia's feelings for him back at the Great Banquet?"

Mirajane giggled, and, deciding to show the married couple a little mercy this time around, answered, "Yes."

"R-really?" Alzack asked, trying his best to recompose himself and get back into the conversation. It had been some time since the Great Banquet and neither Juvia nor Gray had shown any noticeable signs of change since then. "I didn't notice."

Mirajane nodded. "Yes. Despite what happened, everything's still the same as always," she said cheerfully.

"Mira!" a random guild member cried. "Another round please!"

Mirajane looked towards the direction of the voice and flashed her signature, heartwarming smile in that direction. "Sure, coming right up!" She turned back to give Cana and the Connells a wave goodbye before heading off to resume her job.

A few moments after Mirajane left, Cana got off her table and said, "Well, I'll be leaving you two lovebirds alone."

"Huh?" Bisca asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise at Cana's sudden change of heart. Sure, Cana could've possibly been joking before, but still, it seemed so sudden. "Why?"

Cana indicated towards the four barrels of beer she had already emptied that day. "I'm still not satisfied," she matter-of-factly answered. She gave the two a mischievous wink and added, "And besides, I can't exactly go ask Mirajane to get me another barrel with her being so busy and all, right?" As she then began her search for yet another barrel of beer, she raised one of her hands up into the air, gave the married couple a small, nonchalant wave goodbye, and said in a singsong voice, "You two behave, alright?"

"Hey! Not so loud!" Alzack hissed, though with Fairy Tail's usual shenanigans surrounding them, Alzack had every reason to believe she hadn't heard a single word he had said, and even if she had, she sure was having a hoot not showing it.

Alzack let out an exasperated sigh before taking a seat on the bench of a vacated table as Bisca stood where she was, deep in thought. Alzack, upon looking at his wife, noticed that whatever she was thinking about was obviously bothering her, asked, "You alright?"

Bisca, taken out of her train of thought by her husband's voice, blinked twice, took one look at the concerned look on her husband's face, and quickly shook her head as she held up her hands and gave him a small, reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine." Her smile was then replaced with a solemn frown. "It's just," she crossed her arms and looked long and hard at the ground for a moment before continuing, "is this really alright?"

Alzack curiously tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Bisca explained as she gently held her chin in thought, "Gray rejected Juvia's love for him ever since the day of the Great Banquet, right?"

Alzack nodded. "Yeah."

"But," Bisca continued, now looking at her husband, "like Mirajane said, nothing's changed."

Alzack nodded. "Yeah. I see what you mean." He leaned forward, propping his elbows against the tops of his knees as he looked long and hard at the ground. "Despite what's happened, Juvia and Gray haven't changed a bit. Juvia's still doing her usual crazy antics and Gray is still reacting to her crazy antics with the same amount of… of…," he snapped his fingers a few times before finally turning to his wife, using his facial expression to silently ask her to help him find the best term to describe the way Gray reacts to Juvia's crazy acts of affection.

"Craziness?" Bisca suggested.

Alzack thought it over for a bit before slowly nodding his head and saying, "Yeah. That works."

"Really?" Bisca asked, mildly surprised that such a simple answer could have possibly eluded her husband so easily.

Alzack nodded. "Yeah. It's definitely better than what I had in mind."

Bisca raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?" She gave him an amused smirk. "What was it?"

Alzack sighed, before answering, "Eccentric negativity."

Bisca couldn't help but laugh at her husband's own eccentricity. "What?!"

Alzack blushed a bit as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Bisca shook her head as she tried in vain to stifle her own laughter. "No, no! That's good! That's perfect!" She gave him the thumbs up, but without a straight face to back it up, it was hard for him to take it seriously.

Nevertheless, Alzack waited patiently for his wife to finish her uncontrollable fit of laughter before continuing with his point. "Anyway," Alzack said after most of her laughter had died down, "the point is, Juvia and Gray haven't changed at all since Gray's rejection."

Bisca nodded. "Yeah."

"And the question I'm asking -"

"The question WE'RE asking."

"R-right, the question WE'RE asking… is if that's okay or not."

Bisca nodded solemnly. "Yeah." They both looked long and hard at the ground for a moment, before Bisca asked, "IS it really okay?"

Alzack shrugged. "Well…-"

"Wait," Bisca interrupted, giving her husband an apologetic look as she raised her hand up to silence him. "Let me rephrase that." She took a moment to find the right words to better emphasize her point. "Can…," she began slowly, "can nothing bad come out of this?"

Alzack pondered over Bisca's words for a bit before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Well…," she said, tilting her head slightly to the side, trying once again to find the right words to convey her worries. "Based on what we know, is Juvia…," she gave Alzack an uncomfortable look, "in denial?"

"Is Juvia in denial?" Alzack repeated softly to himself. He crossed his arms as he looked down at the ground and considered Bisca's theory for a little bit. He looked back at Bisca with a confused look on his face, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…," she explained, "maybe Gray's rejection hit her a bit too hard? Maybe instead of accepting what had happened, she's trying her best to pretend that it DIDN'T happen, which would explain why she hasn't changed despite what happened?"

Alzack took a moment to consider his wife's words before slowly nodding his head and saying, "Yeah, I can see where you're going with that." He crossed his arms and took a moment to contemplate something else. "And since this is Juvia we're talking about," he said, "there's a big chance this could all end REALLY badly."

"I know right? I mean, Gray doesn't exactly like it when Juvia does all of those crazy things for him."

Alzack nodded. "Yeah, and what if Gray was dead serious about his rejection? I mean, what if he REALLY hates Juvia's overzealous affections for him? What if Juvia's crazy antics REALLY tick Gray off? What if… what if," his eyes widened in horror, "what if one of Juvia's antics goes too far?"

Bisca's eyes widened just as much as her husband's. "What do you mean?"

"What if Juvia performs an antic so crazy, so over-the-top, that Gray finally loses it? What if he gets so angry-it's-not-even-funny-anymore angry? What if he yells at Juvia?" He then released a horrified gasp. "What if that's enough to drive Juvia off the deep end?"

Bisca took a moment to consider the possibility. "You mean like… a crazy Juvia?"

A pause. "A CRAZIER Juvia," they both rectified.

Bisca thought the idea over. "Man, could you imagine what a crazier Juvia would be like?" she whispered gravely.

Alzack nodded with the same amount of seriousness. "Yeah, it'd probably be bad. Like…," he struggled to find the right words, "like… like…," his eyes widened in horror as his mind came up with the perfect way to describe just how crazy Juvia could get if she was pushed too far, "Phantom Lord bad." The two of them shivered at the thought.

"We can't possibly let that happen!" Bisca cried.

"I know! We have to stop it before it's too late!" Alzack hissed.

"Yeah, but how?" Bisca asked urgently.

At that very moment, the doors to the guild burst open. "Gray-sama!" a familiar blue-haired water mage cried as she entered the building.

While most of the other members of the guild quickly resumed their activities after realizing that the one who had entered Fairy Tail's not-so-humble abode was none other than Juvia herself, Alzack and Bisca's attention stayed horrifyingly glued to the former Phantom Lord mage as she eagerly looked around the guild in search for her precious "Gray-sama".

"Gray-sama!" Juvia continued calling out as she continued to look for the said person. She had what appeared to be a freshly baked pie in her hands. "Gray-sama!" Eventually, her search led her right in front of the paranoid gun slingers. "Oh!" she cried, realizing that Bisca and Alzack were both staring at her. "Mr. and Mrs. Connell!" she gave each of her fellow guild members a respectful bow. "Good morning!" She gave them both a cheerful smile. "May I ask how you two are doing today?"

Both Bisca and Alzack took a moment to recover from their petrified states before they could properly acknowledge Juvia's heartfelt hello. "Hello to you too Juvia," Bisca said, doing her best to return the favor. "We're doing just fine, thank you."

"But," Alzack said, standing up and trying his best to follow his wife's example, "we'd be doing a lot better if you'd stop calling us that. We're friends, right? Call us by our first names."

Juvia blushed as she averted her eyes away from the married couple. "J-Juvia's sorry." She started fidgeting nervously. "It's just that… things have changed since the last time Juvia has referred to you two in such a way, haven't they?" Realizing that what she had just said could've been interpreted the wrong way, Juvia quickly looked back at Bisca and Alzack, embarrassment and dismay extremely evident on her face, as she frantically added, "T-that's not to say that Juvia doesn't consider the Connells as good friends anymore!" She averted her gaze once more to the ground. "I-it's just that the Connells are now the parents of a beautiful little girl, not to mention the fact that the last time Juvia had a REAL talk with the Connells, the Connells were seven years younger than they are now, s-so…."

Just then, Juvia felt a hand comfortingly squeeze her shoulder. Juvia turned to see that the hand belonged to Bisca, who had made her way to Juvia's side to ease Juvia's anxieties. "Don't worry. We understand." She turned to her husband. "Don't we Al?"

Alzack smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "It's sad, but no matter how powerful we are, we're all completely powerless against the enemy called time. As much as we'd like to insist that nothing's changed, many things obviously have." He gave Juvia an apologetic grin. "It must be a bit awkward for all the members who came back from Tenrou Island. Sorry."

"Right," Bisca said. "Now that we have all of that out of the way," she turned her attention back at Juvia and gave her a cheerful smile, "let's make one thing perfectly clear." She placed her other hand on Juvia's other shoulder and looked Juvia dead in the eye. "Despite all the changes, you can still call us by our first names, alright?" Juvia looked like she was about to protest, but Bisca stopped her just in time by gently placing a finger on Juvia's lips and saying, "We insist." She topped it all off with one last sincere smile.

Juvia stared at Bisca in awe for a moment, before finally relenting. "Alright then," she said, giving the Connells a small smile, "if Bisca and Alzack insist, then Juvia will do her best to respect their wishes."

Bisca smile grew even wider. "Thank you," she whispered.

"So," Alzack said as he walked up to the two female mages, arms crossed as he was eyeing the seemingly freshly made pie resting in Juvia's hands, "what's that you've got there?"

Juvia looked at the pie in her hands and blushed. "Oh, this?" She raised the pie up a little bit higher to give Bisca and Alzack a better look at it. "This is a pie Juvia made specifically for Gray-sama!" she gushed. Upon taking a closer look, Bisca and Alzack realized that the top of the pie was decorated in such a way that whatever ingredients Juvia had used to decorate the surface was decorated in such a way as to resemble Gray's face. "Juvia made it out of blueberries, so whenever Gray-sama takes a bite, he'll think of Juvia and Juvia's love for him!" She turned her head in every which way in order to spot the person the pie was intended for. "Do Alzack and Bisca know where he is?"

Alzack and Bisca looked at each other apprehensively. In just one sentence, Juvia had just reminded the two of what they had just been discussing to each other mere minutes ago. What were they going to do now?

"Well," Alzack and Bisca thought, "as far as we know, Gray hasn't arrived yet, so at least we have some time until-"

Just then, the doors of the guild opened to allow a certain ice mage passage into the building of the guild he belonged to. Juvia's head turned around just in time to witness Gray's very first steps into Fairy Tail for the day, her heart beating faster and faster at the mere sight of just how cool Gray looked by just walking into the building. It certainly helped that she perceived the entire scene in slow motion in her mind.

"Gray-sam-" Juvia cried out, only for Bisca to quickly cover Juvia's mouth with her hand from behind her.

"J-Juvia," Bisca quickly whispered into Juvia's ear as Juvia somewhat struggled to get Bisca's hand off of her mouth. "I-I just remembered, I need to talk to you about something! Something very important! Something so important, it just can't wait!"

Juvia stopped struggling for a moment to ask, in a muffled voice, "R-really?" She had never really had a conversation like that before, so she didn't really know how to respond to such a request. "About what?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

Juvia's eyes grew wide. "'G-get there'?"

Bisca's mind raced furiously in an attempt to cover up her blunder. "B-by 'get there' I meant…," she looked frantically around the guild for somewhere private for her and Juvia to talk; when she finally spotted an empty spot in the corner to have their conversation, Bisca started to push the somewhat reluctant and completely surprised Juvia in that direction and continued, "over there, in the corner!"

"Hey!" Alzack whispered before Bisca and Juvia got too far. "What are you doing?!"

Bisca stopped walking and pushing Juvia to look at her husband and answer, "We can't jump to any conclusions! We need to get the details before we do anything drastic!"

"W-what are Alzack and Bisca talking about?" a confused Juvia asked under Bisca's hand.

"Don't worry Juvia, I'll explain everything. You have my word." Bisca pointed towards Gray, who was making his way to the guild's bar. "Go over there and make some small talk with Gray," she instructed Alzack. "Find out what really happened. I'll be doing the same thing with Juvia."

Alzack looked back to see that Gray had taken a seat at the bar and was asking Kinana for a drink. Alzack looked back to his wife and nodded, understanding her plan. "What do we do after that?"

"If we can fix it, we'll fix it, but for now, the main priority is that we find out what really happened at the Great Banquet."

Alzack nodded and gave his wife the thumbs up. "Right." He began making his way towards Gray, who had just been given his drink.

"Bisca, what's going on?" Juvia asked. Bisca then released Juvia's mouth from the confines of her hand and proceeded to push Juvia towards the empty corner of the guild.

"I gave you my word, right?" Bisca said, trying to keep her voice cheerful and optimistic despite the possible drama that she and Alzack feared could happen if everything went terribly wrong. "I'll definitely tell you, once we get to that corner! Now come on Juvia," she said as she noticed that Juvia was still somewhat fighting her, "move those feet! The faster we get there, the faster I'll fill you in!"

After a moment's hesitation, Juvia eventually complied. It was Bisca after all. What had she to fear?

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Well, what do you guys think? Did I manage to keep everyone in character?<p> 


	2. Alzack Talks to Gray

"Yo!" Gray looked over his shoulder and smiled the moment he noticed that it was Alzack who had called out to him and was walking towards him. "How's it going?"

"Hey," the ice mage coolly greeted as the two mages bumped fists with each other after Alzack had taken the seat right next to his at the bar. "Everything's going pretty well actually." He gently shook the drink that he had ordered in his hand. "So, how're the wife and kid?" He took a sip of his drink as he waited for a response.

"Asuka's doing just fine," Alzack answered confidently. He fidgeted nervously in his seat before reluctantly adding, "As for Bisca and me… well…."

Gray frowned. "Hey, is everything alright? No trouble in paradise I hope."

Alzack quickly raised his hands up in an attempt to reassure Gray that that wasn't the case. "N-No, it's not that! Everything's just fine! …It's just…," Alzack sheepishly averted his eyes to look down at the bar, "something's been bothering us."

"Bothering you?" Gray repeated, his eyes having widened in concern and surprise as he placed his drink back onto the counter. "For how long?"

"Just recently."

Gray crossed his arms solemnly and nodded as his friend slowly explained the situation to him. "I see." After taking a moment to let the newfound information sink in, Gray looked at Alzack and gave him a reassuring grin. "Well then, why don't you tell me what's going on?" he offered. "If I can help, I will, and if I can't, I'll see what I can do." When he saw that Alzack was hesitating, Gray affably punched his shoulder and prodded, "Come on, we're all friends here, right?"

Alzack nodded. "That's true," he admitted softly. "But considering what type of problem this is…."

"It's not serious, is it?" Gray asked with the concern evident in his voice.

Alzack was about to shake his head, but after a moment's hesitation, thought it'd be better to shrug his shoulders instead. "It depends," he answered.

"Hey," Gray said with a stern, disapproving, worried look on his face, "stop beating around the bush. Either you're going to tell me or you're not. Which is it?"

"I will, I will! Just… give me a sec." Alzack took a deep breath and looked at Gray, who was watching him impatiently. Buckling under the pressure, Alzack frantically looked for Kinana, raised his index finger, and cried, "Kinana!" Kinana turned to look at the gun-toting mage. "Can I get a drink?"

Kinana smiled. "Sure! Coming right up!"

It wasn't until after she had gotten him his drink and left to attend to her other errands and after Alzack had chugged down the entire beverage that he finally had the guts to ask, "Did… Juvia confess her feelings to you at the Great Banquet?"

Gray's eyes widened upon hearing Alzack's unexpected inquiry. "What?! What the heck does that have to do with anything?!"

"Just answer the question!" Alzack insisted firmly.

After a moment's hesitation, Gray blushed, sheepishly scratched the back of his head, and answered, "Y-Yeah."

"And did you reject her feelings for you?" Alzack prodded.

"W-Well, I didn't exactly accept them."

Alzack let out a disappointed sigh. "So it's true."

"So what of it?!" Gray cried defensively.

After a moment's contemplation from Alzack, the pistol-wielding wizard answered, "It's just… Bisca and I just don't get it is all."

Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Get what?!" he demanded. "What's there to get?!"

"Well," Alzack explained, "Juvia may be…," his paused for a moment to find the right words, "a lot of things, but she's not delusional… at least not to a ridiculous degree. Based on what happened at the Grand Magic Games, I'm pretty sure you know that your opinion means a lot to her, so if you told her that you didn't like her that way, then I'm sure she'd respect you enough to stop pursuing you, or at least not as much as we've all been accustomed to. But that's the thing. Despite what happened, nothing's changed. Juvia's still obsessing over you and you're still reacting to it like you always do. Bisca and I were just wondering if everything was really okay between the two of you, that's all."

"Well," Gray said, playing with his glass as he spoke, "You were wrong about one thing: she still can't take a hint." Gray let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Honestly, I made it so obvious too."

Alzack let out an amused, yet somewhat sympathetic chuckle. "I'm sorry to hear that." He sighed. "It's disappointing though. I had honestly thought that Juvia was better than that."

"There's nothing really wrong with her," Gray reassured him. "I just wish she'd act a little bit more normal around me is all."

Alzack smiled. "I'm glad to hear it." A pause. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Okay with what?"

"With Juvia being, well, Juvia."

Gray shook his head and nonchalantly waved Alzack's worries off. "I'm semi-used to it by now. I mean, I still hate it and all, but it's sort of become expected, you know?"

Alzack laughed. "Yeah, I guess it has."

Gray smiled and gave Alzack a firm pat on the back. "There, see? Nothing to worry about."

Alzack sheepishly shrugged. "I guess."

Gray raised his eyebrows in surprise at the uncertainty from his friend's reply. "'I guess'? Just what the heck do you mean by 'I guess'?"

"Well," Alzack smirked, "it's just… Asuka's going to have some really weird ideas about what love is, you know?"

Gray grimaced at the thought. "Oh, right." A pause. "Well, good luck with that."

"Hey, I thought friends were supposed help each other out!"

"Well, yeah, but," Gray took a quick sip of his drink and shrugged, "I don't exactly help you get dressed in the morning, do I?"

Alzack sighed. "Yeah." A small, knowing smirk then graced his features. "And besides, you'd be the last person I'd ask about getting dressed."

"Oh?" Gray asked, returning the gesture with an amused smirk of his own. "And why's that?"

Alzack played with his empty glass for a bit before answering, "You don't wear any clothes."

Gray cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "What type of stupid reason is that? Of course I wear clothes!"

"Yeah, but they never stay on for very long." He indicated towards Gray's body to further make his point.

Gray looked down at himself and let out a genuine cry of surprise. "Where the heck are my clothes?!"

Alzack couldn't help but chuckle as Gray quickly searched the guild for his missing clothes. After Gray had finally redressed himself, he sat back in his seat, and said, "Geez, warn a guy next time, would you?"

"When?" Alzack asked, taking a sip of the refill he had ordered while waiting for Gray to finish collecting his clothes.

"Before a guy's sitting stark naked in public would be nice," Gray grumbled.

"Deal," Alzack said. "I wouldn't want Asuka to get the idea that taking off her clothes in public was a good thing."

Gray nodded solemnly. "Yeah." He then took another sip of his drink before he shook his head disapprovingly. "Now that I think about it, our guild's got too many bad influences. You should really consider dropping the kid off in a daycare or something."

"Can't." Alzack flashed Gray a small, content smile. "She wants to spend time with her friends."

Gray gasped, but smirked immediately after. "Well then, if that's the case, we must be doing something right after all."

Alzack chuckled. "Yeah, 'something'."

Gray genuinely followed suit. "Obviously just 'something'." He raised his glass. "To doing 'something' right."

Alzack raised his glass, and said, "To doing 'something' right," before the two of them chugged their drinks down and slammed them back onto the bar.

After taking a moment to recuperate, Alzack said, "So… tell me how it went."

Gray gave him a puzzled look. "What?" he asked.

"Tell me how your rejection to Juvia went," Alzack specified.

Gray gave him a confused frown. "Since when were you so into other people's love lives?"

Alzack blushed, looked down at his glass, and played with it for a bit, before answering, "W-Well, you know, Bisca would want to know all of the details."

Gray let out an exasperated sigh and crossed his arms. "Yeah, girls are like that sometimes, huh?"

Alzack quickly nodded. "Y-Yeah. Can't go back empty handed, you know?"

Gray sighed. "Yeah, I hear ya." Gray sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well," he began, clearly uncomfortable with having to recall such an awkward moment, "I was just minding my own business, when all of a sudden, Juvia popped up out of nowhere and started rambling on about how she was now Juvia 2.0, or something," he gently rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "I don't know, she was talking like she was some kind of robot or something."

Alzack leaned in, eyes wide, and quickly nodded. "Yeah, and?"

Gray eyed the gun-slinging mage suspiciously. "You know, you're a little bit too into this, you know that?"

Alzack shook his head and quickly waved Gray's remark away. "I need to get all the details," he said quickly. "What happened next?"

After a brief moment of hesitation, Gray continued with his story. "Well, after that, she said that she was entering a whole new age and stuff, you know, like a robot -"

Alzack leaned in closer, his eyes widened even further as he quickly nodded, and asked, "And? And?"

"She said that she loved me," Gray answered simply.

"And what did you say?" Alzack asked, admittedly a little too enthusiastically than he would've liked.

"I said I didn't."

"…What?"

"I said I didn't love her," Gray elaborated.

"…And?"

Gray shrugged. "That's it."

"…That's it?"

Gray nodded. "That's it."

Alzack couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you sure you're not leaving anything out?"

Gray crossed his arms, looked up at the ceiling, and thought his story over for a bit, checking to see if he had indeed left anything out of his initial telling of it. "Well… after that she said something about me playing hard to get with her… or something like that." Gray rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Honestly, why would I play hard to get? With her of all people?! She should know that I'm smarter than that!"

"So wait," Alzack said, raising a hand up to silence his friend for a little bit. "She said that she loved you and you just said that you didn't love her back?" Gray nodded. "That's it? End of story?!"

Gray eyed Alzack suspiciously. "Does there NEED to be more to the story?" he asked cautiously.

Alzack couldn't believe this. "So you just said that you didn't love her and that was it? You didn't give her an explanation or a reason or anything?! You just said that you didn't love her?!"

Gray was beginning to get a little impatient with all of Alzack's questions. "What explanation?! I told her that I didn't love her! Isn't that kind of self-explanatory?!" Alzack slowly began to rub his temples. "Look, I know the story's a little short, but that's seriously how it happened!" Gray let out a sympathetic sigh for his frustrated friend. "Look, if Bisca doesn't believe you, just call me. I'd be more than willing to set things straight with her. Trust me; I wouldn't want any misunderstandings to come between the two of you."

"He doesn't want any misunderstandings he says," Alzack irritably muttered to himself. "But he's the one who started one in the first place!"

Gray was taken aback by Alzack's uncharacteristic words. "What the heck's wrong with you today man?!"

"What's wrong with me?!" Alzack shrieked. "What's wrong with you?! You tell a person you don't like them and you don't even give them a reason why? Of course Juvia wouldn't believe you! You gave her no reason to believe otherwise!"

Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I said I didn't love her! Look, I love Juvia, but I love her just as much as I would any other member of the guild! I just don't see her that way!"

"Did you tell her all of that?!"

"Well… technically!"

"There's no 'technically' about it! Either you told her you didn't think of her that way, or you didn't! Which one was it?"

Gray irritably thought it over. "I…," he sheepishly shrugged, "didn't?"

"Gray!"

"I told her I didn't love her! Can you blame me if I thought that saying that also meant that I just didn't see her that way?"

Alzack simply let out an exasperated sigh. "So you didn't tell her that last part then?" Alzack sternly asked, determined to get to the bottom of this.

Gray sighed and rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. "No… I didn't."

The two men laid their arms on the counter and leaned forward, exhausted from their exchange and the newfound revelations they had received. "So let me get this straight," Gray said, trying to make sure that he understood his situation. "Juvia's still doing her usual shtick, all because I didn't specify why I didn't love her."

Alzack nodded. "Yep." After a brief pause, he quickly mumbled, "And looking cool while shooting her down probably didn't help either."

Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had Alzack gone completely mad? "What the heck are you talking about?!" Gray cried. "Why the heck would I try to look cool at a time like that?! And even if I was, how the heck would you know if I was acting cool or not when you didn't even know what happened until now?!"

Alzack let out an exasperated sigh. "Because," he explained, "there's no way in hell you'd be caught dead not being cool. That's just the type of person you are, for better or for worse."

Gray leaned his head back and let out an exhausted sigh. "Great, now what am I gonna do?"

"Simple," Alzack said, playing with his glass as he spoke, "you've got to set things straight with Juvia. You need to explain to her why you don't like her that way."

It was official. Alzack had gone officially mad. "What?!"

Alzack shrugged. "Better late than never, right?"

Gray anxiously scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but… this is Juvia we're talking about."

Alzack sighed. "Look, Gray, you need to respect her feelings. If you truly don't like her that way, then you have to be honest with her." When Gray still looked a little bit hesitant, Alzack added, "Look, I know Juvia hasn't exactly been completely respectful of your feelings, with all of her usual crazy antics and all, especially what happened after the Great Banquet, but Juvia's NOT that crazy, you know that. If you were completely honest with her, I'm sure she'd leave you alone a little bit more, you know?" Still no response. "Look, if it had been any other girl, then you'd be in the right; but this isn't any other girl, this is Juvia, a fellow guild member, someone you've been through thick and thin with. She deserves an explanation. You owe her and explanation."

Gray sighed. "Yeah, I know, but," he started ruffling and pulling his own hair a little bit, "man, this is going to be painful."

Alzack nodded solemnly. "Yeah, she's going to be crushed." A pause. "Just… promise me one thing."

Gray raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Promise what?" he asked.

"Promise me, that even after you've straightened things out with her, that after there are no more misunderstandings between the two of you, promise me," Alzack smiled, "that you won't expect Juvia to stop loving you."

Gray took a moment to let Alzack's words sink in, before crossing his arms, looking away, and blushing slightly. "I make no such promises." He then quickly added, "But I definitely won't step on her feelings." He returned Alzack's smile with one of his own. "That's just not my style, you know?"

Alzack nodded. "Yeah." They bumped fists. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

* * *

><p>Author's Note #1: There we go! Early Christmas present for anyone who's been patiently waiting for an update on this story. I hope those who enjoyed the first chapter enjoyed this one. ;)<p>

Author's Note #2: There were many different translations to what Gray actually said to Juvia during the Great Banquet. They ranged from "No thanks", "No thank you", "I don't", and "Not interested". I chose "I don't" for this story because it seemed like the most obvious worst outcome. I figured that if I wrote it with that scenario in mind, there would be less of a chance of somebody accusing this story of sugarcoating what actually happened, or something like that. :P


	3. Bisca Talks to Juvia

"Bisca," Juvia said once Bisca was done leading her into the intended isolated corner, "what's wrong? Is something the matter?" All of a sudden, Juvia let out a dramatic gasp, blushed, and widened her eyes as she placed a hand over her mouth in shock. "Don't tell Juvia… that there is trouble in paradise!"

Bisca raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What? No. Of course not. Why would there be?"

"N-No reason!" Juvia cried, her blush increasing in hue as she realized that her wild, uncontrollable imagination had made her say something so insensitive. She fidgeted awkwardly. "Juvia is sorry. Juvia said something without thinking."

Bisca gave Juvia an amused grin. "Nah, don't be. It's what I expect from you at this point."

Juvia gasped. "What does Bisca mean by that?!"

Bisca winced and raised her hands up in an attempt to calm the water mage down. "N-Nothing!" When Juvia didn't look convinced, Bisca's mind raced frantically to devise a more detailed explanation. "I-It's just that, I know you always mean well, so whenever you say something rude or insensitive, I expect it's because you said it without thinking, that's all." She laughed in the hopes that her laughter would calm Juvia's nerves a bit. "After all, Juvia is Juvia, right?" She laughed again for good measure.

After what seemed like an eternity of awkward laughter for Bisca, Juvia, to Bisca's relief, giggled and nodded her head in agreement. "Right, of course!" She flashed Bisca a small, modest smile. "And Bisca will always be Bisca!"

"Huh?" Bisca asked, wondering what exactly Juvia meant by that.

Juvia giggled. "Juvia realizes that if Bisca ever had a problem, she would face it head on; so even if there was trouble in paradise, Bisca definitely wouldn't run away from it! Bisca would definitely confront Alzack about it until the problem was solved!"

Bisca gasped before smiling at Juvia contently. She then gave Juvia a confident smirk, gave her the thumbs up, and gave her a playful wink for good measure. "You got that right sister! Looks like you're learning!"

Juvia nodded happily. "Of course! What friend would Juvia be if Juvia did not understand everybody?"

Bisca noticeably winced, but luckily for her, Juvia didn't seem to notice, at least, not immediately. "A bad one?" she asked uneasily.

Juvia quickly and firmly nodded. "Indeed! If Juvia ever found out that Juvia was a bad friend to her friends, Juvia would not be able to forgive herself!" She then noticed the uneasy look on Bisca's face, which Bisca attempted in vain to hide behind her hat, which she held the brim of using her fingers and had pulled down, only succeeding in covering the top half of her face. "Bisca," Juvia asked, "are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Bisca slowly lifted her hat to fully reveal the look of uneasiness. "Kind of," she answered quietly. She then clasped her hands together and forced herself to look at them as she shook them nervously. "How do I explain this?" she murmured to herself. Thankfully for her, Juvia was a patient person, so no matter how long it took for Bisca to come up with a proper segue into the topic she had originally planned to discuss with her about, Juvia patiently awaited her.

Once Bisca had finally settled on her first course of action, she took a deep breath, faced Juvia with a determined look on her face, and said, "Okay." She placed her hands on Juvia's shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze, much to Juvia's surprise. "Juvia," Bisca began, looking directly at Juvia, showing absolutely no sign of backing down, "I'm going to shoot completely straight with you, alright?"

Juvia merely blinked in confusion, but gave a quick nod to signal that she understood. "Yes," she said, "of course."

Bisca nodded firmly. "Okay then." She took one last deep breath to calm her nerves. She had come this far, no point in turning back now. She once against looked straight at Juvia and asked, "Did you confess your feelings to Gray back at the Great Banquet?"

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise. That was what all this was about? It hardly seemed worthy of such an intense discussion, especially with someone who hadn't had any real impact on her and Gray's relationship. Juvia simply nodded. "Yes."

Bisca nodded. One hurdle down, another one to go. "And did Gray reject your feelings after you did?"

Juvia nodded. "Y-Yes, he did."

"And you're still trying to win his heart, even when he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't interested in you?" Bisca asked. Immediately after saying that, she immediately regretted how inconsiderately she had phrased it, but she realized that the time for apologies had long since passed. She was diving into very personal territory and she was determined to get answers. Backing down now would've only given Juvia a chance to back down herself. She needed answers, and if what she and Alzack feared was definitely possible, then these answers would be crucial for preventing such a possibility from becoming a reality.

Much to Bisca's surprise, Juvia blushed innocently and let out a hearty laugh. "Of course!" she said, raising her hand up to gently remove Bisca's hands off of her shoulders.

Bisca was shocked, and simply blinked to express her confusion. "B-But… his rejection -"

Juvia sighed dreamily as she looked down at the pie in her hands. "Gray-sama's rejection was just a front," she explained gently, though her enthusiasm obviously showed at points. She looked happily back at Bisca, and despite the obviously shocked expression plastered on her face, Juvia either didn't notice or chose to ignore it, as her demeanor showed no signs of weakening. "That's one of the many traits that makes Gray-sama so dreamy!" she gushed. "Despite how cool and handsome he is on the outside, Gray-sama is so shy about opening up!" She looked back down at her pie, her expression softening immensely at the thought of what praise her Gray-sama might bestow upon her once he received the handmade, edible sign of her love for him. She was so busy admiring her token of affection however, that she didn't notice that Bisca had averted her eyes to the ground, her eyes effectively being hidden behind the brim of her cowgirl hat, and had clenched her fists and jaw in frustration. "But Juvia isn't worried. Juvia knows that if Juvia keeps on trying, Gray-sama will finally open up about his feelings towards Juvia, and -"

"This isn't funny Juvia," Bisca muttered.

Juvia gasped and turned her attention back to Bisca, startled by her words and the tone she chose to express them. "Huh?"

Bisca kept her head down as she shook her head disapprovingly. "Just because Gray said something you didn't like," she raised her head to show Juvia a look that clearly expressed how disappointed and angry she was at the water mage, "doesn't mean you can pretend like it never happened!"

Juvia took a step back, and why wouldn't she? The intensity Bisca was displaying was at a level Juvia had never seen the sniper reach before, and whether Bisca realized it or not, her anger and passion were commanding her to slowly make her way closer and closer towards Juvia, taking angry step after angry step towards her intimidated guild member. "B-Bisca?"

"Part of loving someone is respecting that person's feelings!" Bisca cried. Despite Juvia lowering her head and hiding her eyes behind her bangs and visibly shaking from Bisca's verbal assault, Bisca was too angry and disappointed to care. She continued her tirade because, quite frankly, she felt that Juvia needed to hear it. "If Gray's not interested in you, than if you truly love him, you'd respect his feelings and stop doing… doing…," she looked at the pie in Juvia's hands, ripped it out of Juvia's grasp, and lifted it up to her face, "this!" Bisca took a few minutes to catch her breath before she continued on her rant. "It would be one thing if you were ignoring Gray's feelings, but this…," she said, shaking the pie in her hands angrily, "this isn't just ignoring Gray's feelings, this is just plain disrespecting them! Just because reality hurts, it doesn't mean you can just… just…," Bisca had become so angry that she was beginning to lose her ability to remember words, "run away into that happy little delusion of yours where everything goes your way!" Bisca was beginning to pant heavily. Ranting really took a lot out of her.

She looked back at Juvia, who hadn't moved a muscle the moment she had begun her verbal tirade. As much as Bisca hated to admit it, the very sight of Juvia's pathetic state immediately made her regret what she had just done. On the one hand, she felt that this was something Juvia absolutely needed to hear; on the other hand, she may have gone too far. She still loved Juvia, and in hindsight, that rant really had turned ugly, a type of ugly that Bisca often hated and despised whenever she saw someone reach that level of ugliness. It was bad enough that she loathed herself for reaching that type of ugliness, but the irony of it only added salt to the wound.

Bisca's expression softened the moment she had successfully managed to recompose herself. Taking a moment to let some time pass before she spoke again, she averted her eyes towards the ground and sheepishly shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry Juvia," she quietly said, desperately hoping that Juvia was not shutting her off, which she would completely understand if she did. "It's just…," Bisca sighed as she remorsefully rubbed the back of her neck, "Alzack and I… we were rooting for you, you know?" Despite a lack of response, Bisca continued to explain herself as best she could. "You and Gray… well," she smiled fondly at the memories of watching Gray and Juvia interact from afar with Alzack, "we just thought you two looked so cute together… and maybe that was because we saw a lot of ourselves in you two. I mean sure, you both had your bad points, but we really liked your good points, you know? Sure, Gray could be a little bit more open about his feelings, but he's always a pretty reliable guy, and despite your delusions, you always seemed like such a strong and compassionate person." She sighed. "I guess we just thought you were stronger than this is all," she admitted quietly. When she still received no response from Juvia, Bisca looked back at her and found that Juvia was quivering uncontrollably. "Juvia?" Bisca asked, raising her hand to reach out to her, but stopping midway, as if debating on whether she should touch Juvia or not.

Juvia sniffed loudly. "Juvia knows," Juvia softly whimpered. She raised her head to reveal that she had been silently crying this entire time. "Juvia knows," she repeated, though it was muffled by the fact that she was trying her best to stifle her own sobs, though a hiccup did unintentionally escape her lips. "Juvia knows that her precious Gray-sama doesn't love her. Juvia knows that she shouldn't continue doing these things. Juvia knows… Juvia knows…." Juvia shook her head and brought her hands up to her face to wipe away her own tears, but it was no use, the tears were constantly being replaced with new ones each and every time Juvia wiped one away.

Bisca stepped forward to help Juvia clean herself up. Once she felt that the worst was behind them (thought Juvia was still sniffing, sobbing, hiccupping, and shedding tears, it was at a much lesser rate than before), she gently placed a hand on one of Juvia's shoulders and gave it a comforting squeeze. "What is it Juvia? What else do you also know?" When Juvia seemed to hesitate, Bisca smiled kindly, and said, "Come on Juvia. I know I was a little harsh before, but I was only trying to help!" Still nothing. "You can tell me, can't you? We're friends, aren't we?"

Realizing that Bisca was right, Juvia did her best to fight her bodily impulses and finish the thought she had attempted mere moments ago to convey to Bisca. "Juvia knows…," Juvia whimpered, "Juvia knows… that Juvia's feelings for Gray-sama were doomed from the start! That Juvia was nothing more than a hopeless suitor towards her Gray-sama!" Juvia once again began to cry uncontrollably, her attempt to control and cover her whimpers and sobs being to simply cover her face with her hands and hope that her intense feelings would eventually subside.

Bisca's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected revelation Juvia bestowed upon her. Did she hear that right? Did Juvia just admit that she always secretly knew that Gray would never love her? No, that couldn't be! This was Juvia! Surely she had somehow heard her wrong! "Juvia," Bisca said softly, "what do you mean? Did I really just hear you right? Did you really just say that you always knew that your feelings for Gray were… doomed from the start?"

Juvia sadly nodded. "From the moment Juvia fell in love with Gray-sama, Juvia always knew that her love for Gray-sama would never be returned! That Juvia's love for her precious Gray-sama was completely hopeless!"

Bisca's mouth hung agape with disbelief. So she really did hear her right… and yet, despite that, she just couldn't believe it. Shaking her head to release herself from her own stupor, Bisca hesitated, before quietly asking, "H-How?" It was probably insensitive of her to ask, but she had to know. The Juvia she had grown accustomed to and the Juvia standing before her now were two completely different people! She needed to know what linked the two Juvias together.

Juvia gulped down a sob, before explaining, "Even before Juvia joined Fairy Tail, Juvia had boyfriends, but each and every one of them left Juvia for one reason or another."

"But that doesn't mean Gray would've!" Bisca argued. "Look, I may not know who those other guys were, but Gray's not like those other guys! You know that, right?"

Juvia nodded before continuing on with her explanation. "But even when Juvia joined Fairy Tail, Juvia noticed. Juvia noticed it right away." Tears were once again forming at the corner of Juvia's eyes and Bisca could hear her try to subtly stifle her sobs. Whatever she was about to say, it apparently hurt her very much.

Bisca carefully wrapped Juvia in a one-armed embrace while using one of her hands to comfortingly rub Juvia's shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered tenderly. "Take all the time you need. I'm not in any rush."

Juvia nodded to show that she understood and although she was grateful for Bisca for being patient with her, Juvia wanted to show her gratitude by quickly recomposing herself and resuming her explanation. Once she had succeeded in performing this very task somewhat, she wiped the last, remaining, unshed tears from her eyes, and continued on from where she had left off. "Juvia noticed…," another sniff, "Juvia noticed the way Gray-sama talked with other girls besides Juvia, and because of that," another sniff, "Juvia knows that she is nowhere close to Gray-sama's heart."

Bisca gulped and licked her lips nervously. "I… I still don't completely understand. What other girls are you talking about? I mean… Gray's not exactly a social butterfly, you know? I mean, as far as I know, Gray seems to spend all of his time either here or on a job, so…."

Juvia nodded. "Yes. Juvia knows." Juvia gulped nervously. "In truth, Juvia is ashamed to admit this, but," she looked at Bisca, her eyes filled with sadness, guilt, and shame, "the women Juvia was referring to… was her own precious guild mates!"

Bisca released a small gasp as he eyes widened in unadulterated surprise. "W-Wait, what?"

Juvia nodded, lowering her head in shame. "Juvia has seen the way Gray-sama talks with Lucy. Juvia has seen the way Gray-sama talks with Erza. Juvia has seen the way Gray-sama talks with Wendy. Juvia has seen the way Gray-sama talks with Cana. Juvia has even noticed the way Gray-sama talks with Bisca!" Juvia shook her head. "When Juvia compares the way Gray-sama talks with her to the way he talks with everyone else… Juvia realizes just how far away from Gray-sama's heart Juvia really is!"

Bisca nodded understandingly, though she was slowly starting to realize just how serious Juvia's insecurities were. "I-It's true that he's a little awkward with you compared to everyone else," Bisca said, trying to be as gentle as she could while saying this, "but you have to admit… it's kind of your own fault. I mean…," Bisca winced at the thought, "you're always admiring him from afar, you know? And whenever you do have the courage to approach him, it's always with some crazy declaration of your love. You've never really had a normal conversation with him, you know?"

Juvia nodded. "Yes, Bisca has a point," she admitted. "But," she shook her head again, "even if that were not the case," Juvia once again restrained a sob that had almost succeeded from escaping her lips, "Juvia knows that Gray-sama would never love somebody as ugly as Juvia."

"What?!" Bisca cried incredulously. "Juvia! That has got to be the most ridiculous thing you've said! How could you say something like that about yourself?! You're beautiful!"

Juvia simply shook her head. "Not on the outside," Juvia clarified. She placed both of her hands over her heart. "On the inside. Juvia is ugly for harboring such feelings of jealousy towards her precious friends, even though they have been nothing but kind to her." Juvia shook her head in self-disdain once again. "Juvia knows that her precious Gray-sama would never love somebody who harbors such ugly thoughts and feelings towards her own friends!"

Bisca winced uncomfortably. So that was what Juvia had meant. Bisca rubbed the back of her neck anxiously. Things just got much more complicated. Outer beauty was one thing; inner beauty, however, was a completely different ball game. Bisca took a deep breath. With how touchy the current subject was, she would have to choose her words carefully. "Juvia," she said gently, "I understand why you're ashamed for having these thoughts and feelings, but you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. It's perfectly normal! Everyone goes through them at least once in their lives!"

Juvia shook her head again. "Bisca is only saying such a thing to make Juvia feel better!" she argued. "Bisca would never think such thoughts and feel such ugly emotions for Juvia! No one in Fairy Tail would!"

"Juvia, that's not true, not in the slightest!" Bisca countered. "I mean, sure, none of us have ever really felt jealous when another girl talks with Gray, but that's only because none of us are interested in him the way you are!" When Juvia still didn't seem convinced, Bisca pointed at Jet and Droy, who were eating at a table all to themselves. "Look at Jet and Droy! They're always jealous when someone else it talking to Levy!"

Juvia sheepishly followed Bisca's finger to see her two fellow guild mates cheerfully stuffing their faces with food (Droy especially). "Even towards their own friends?" she asked quietly.

Bisca nodded. "In spades! Have you seen the way they look at Gajeel?!" She laughed heartily. "They always look so livid!" She stopped laughing to soothingly rub Juvia's shoulder. "Look, Juvia, everyone has an ugly thought or an ugly feeling every once in a while, that's just a part of being alive, just like how figuring out how to deal with those negative thoughts and feelings are a part of being alive."

"But," Juvia whispered, "no matter how hard Juvia tries, she can never rid herself of such thoughts and emotions."

Bisca laughed cheerfully and brought Juvia closer to her, giving her a light embrace, much to Juvia's surprise. "Hey, I never said that it was easy! Haven't you been paying attention around here? No matter how many negative emotions, thoughts, or habits we all have, we never truly seem to rid ourselves of them, you know? I mean, no one around here really seems to change, right? Nab's always hanging out at the request board, Natsu and Gray are always fighting with each other, Vijeeter is always dancing, Reedus is always painting… the list goes on and on! Sure, it can get pretty annoying and tiring from time to time, but everyone here accepts everyone for who they are flaws and all, you know that! And it's not just Fairy Tail, it's just a part of being somebody's friend in general, you know?" When Juvia still didn't seem convinced, Bisca gently asked, "And you know what another part of being someone's friend is?" She turned Juvia around to look at her face to face. "It's helping each other deal with these thoughts and emotions. Juvia, if something's wrong, you know you can always come to us, right? I mean, we're all friends here, aren't we?"

After a moment of awestruck silence, Juvia smiled, nodded, and answered, "Yes," before adding, "but there are certainly times when Juvia feels that she does not deserve such amazing friends."

Bisca chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah." She gazed thoughtfully at the guild members minding their own business in front of her. "Sometimes, this place and the people who are a part of it seem too good to be true." She turned back to Juvia, smiled, and gave her a playful wink. "Right?"

Juvia returned Bisca's gestures with a smile and a nod of her own. "Indeed."

They both turned to watch the guild once more. Despite all of the hardships and despite all of the insanity, they had to admit, this guild had done wonders for them, from Juvia, who turned from being a lonely and bitter rain-woman to a woman who treasures the very concept of love itself, to Bisca, who turned from being a no-good common crook calling herself Moulin Rouge to a married woman with a beautiful daughter and an amazing husband. True, with how often they saw their fellow guild members and how much of a pain they could be at times, they would often forget how lucky they were to be surrounded by so many friends, so many amazing people, but it happened, but just like Bisca had said, friends helped each other out, and Bisca had just reminded Juvia of all of the amazing people she could lean on for support, no matter how many times her heart would decide to chew her out and no matter how many times she would feel helpless whenever it did.

Juvia sighed thoughtfully. "This guild is a lot of fun, isn't it?"

Bisca nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it really is." She looked down at the pie in her hands before turning back to Juvia. "So," she said, Juvia turning back to her to give Bisca her full attention, "you know what you have to do," she held out Juvia's pie to her, "right?"

Juvia looked down at the pie with a melancholic expression replacing the content smile that had been on her face mere moments before. She nodded. "Yes," she said, "but Juvia must sadly admit that Juvia might never stop loving Gray-sama."

Bisca smiled and nodded understandingly. "Of course. No one's telling you to stop loving Gray! Heck, you can love Gray as much as you want! It's just that, if he doesn't love you back, you have to respect his personal space a little bit more."

Juvia sighed. "Still…."

Bisca reached for Juvia's shoulder and squeezed it compassionately. "I know it's going to be hard for you, after all, Gray was the one who finally showed you the light, the one who cleared your dark and gloomy skies, the one who led you out of a dark tunnel and showed you the first rays of light to hit your face, but if Gray doesn't feel the same way about you then, well… you need to let him go."

Juvia nodded. "Juvia understands," she said, taking her pie off of Bisca's hands and looking down at it affectionately. This was going to be hard, so hard. Not once since she first met her precious Gray-sama had she ever NOT thought about spending the rest of her life with him, starting a family, and growing old together; but Bisca was right, if she continued to do this, she'd be disrespecting Gray's feelings, and after all he had done for her, respecting his feelings was the least she could do. She looked back at Bisca. "So," she said, "how do you suggest Juvia does this?"

Bisca held her chin as she thought the whole situation over. Once she finally devised a plan that she felt would tie up all loose ends and leave everyone satisfied with absolutely no regrets, she snapped her fingers, smiled confidently, and cried, "I've got it! Go up to Gray, give him your pie, and tell him that you love him again!"

Juvia blinked a few times in confusion. "W-What?"

Bisca nodded enthusiastically. "Go up to Gray, give him your pie, and tell him that you love him again!" she repeated. When Juvia still looked confused, Bisca explained, "Look, for all we know, Gray probably is playing hard to get -"

Juvia's eyes lit up immensely. "He is?!"

Bisca quickly shook her head and raised her hands up to calm Juvia down. "No, we don't know yet, but that's why you should confess your feelings to him again! To make doubly sure that he doesn't love you; and better yet, if he does say he doesn't love you, ask him why he doesn't love you! If Gray tries to walk away without giving you an explanation, then run after him, catch him, and force him into giving you a proper explanation for why he doesn't love you! You may be respecting his feelings by leaving him behind, but he has to respect your feelings by giving you a proper explanation for why he doesn't love you! Then, after you get your explanation, accept the rejection, tell him that you'll respect his feelings and leave him alone a little bit more, but that you'll always love him regardless, and then, BAM, you head your separate ways and just be friends slash guild members." Bisca smiled proudly to herself for coming up with such a great plan. "What a great plan," she complimented to herself.

Juvia thought it over for a minute before smiling at Bisca and nodding her head in agreement. "Yes, it certainly is."

* * *

><p>Author's Note #1: I've read somewhere that, according to a databook, Juvia surprisingly feels that she is a hopeless suitor to Gray, despite her efforts. Poor thing. :(<p>

Author's Note #2: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sadly, since my break is almost over, I won't be updating in quite a while, which is sad, considering the fact that I planned to make this a four-shot. Oh well, gives you all something to look forward to, right? ;)


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